One Big Night

Even before the main event, there was plenty of talent to ponder, experience, and enjoy. New York-born, Los Angeles-based Sekou Bunch may have been cast off CBS’s Survivor: Cook Island, but he quickly won over the gathering of about 600 in his show-opening slot. With only his customized ’78 Jazz Bass plugged into Stu Hamm’s Hartke amp, Sekou set a tributary tone with rousing solo versions of “Donna Lee,” “School Days,” and “Funkabilly,” a song from his upcoming debut CD.

Next to be summoned to the stage was concert headliner Bx3. Billy Sheehan took the mic and sang “The Star-Spangled Banner,” accompanied by Jeff Berlin and Stu Hamm. That left leadoff man Berlin to cue drummer John Mader and guitarist (and Guitar Player Associate Editor) Jude Gold into a sizzling straightahead set that included “Auntie Social,” “Everybody Gets Old (If They Have the Time),” Eric Clapton’s “Tears in Heaven,” and “Runaway Train.” At one point, Jeff—gazing out at the bevy of bedazzled bassists—asked a question that was surely on the minds of many: “Aren’t there any bass players working in New York City tonight?”

Stu Hamm’s answer was the most immediate, as he took Jeff’s place for a fun turn through fan favorites “The Abbey Sonata,” “Terminal Beach,” “Flow My Tears,” and “Radio Free Albemuth.” With the packed house sensing the rock waves ahead, Billy Sheehan then hit the boards and ripped full-force into “The Suspense Is Killing Me,” “Don’t Look Down,” King’s X’s “Goldilox,” and “Shy Boy.” Sonically sated, the crowd demanded and received the perfect encore number from all three masters together: Spinal Tap’s “Big Bottom.”

Allowing any lingering low notes to clear the room, BP Editor-in-Chief Bill Leigh arrived at the mic to begin the presentation of the Bass Player Lifetime Achievement Award to Stanley Clarke. He introduced Marcus Miller, who spoke and then brought up Victor Wooten. Both bass icons recalled the impact of Clarke on their own careers, with Miller relating that at age 14 he learned the bass solo from Return To Forever’s “Vulcan Worlds” [from Where Have I Known You Before, Polydor, 1974], and he would play it every time he got a solo, no matter what the song or key! “People were always impressed, anyway,” he laughed, and the crowd smiled with him. Wooten recalled copping the Stanley look as well as his licks: “I’ve got photos of me as a teenager with my Alembic bass, a scarf, and an afro, with my head turned slightly to the side,” he admitted.

The pair then called on the Lord of the Low Frequencies and presented him with his award. In his acceptance speech, a humbled Clarke marveled at the scope and depth of the bass scene today (which, as Miller and Wooten pointed out, was the direct result of Clarke liberating both the acoustic and electric versions if the instrument)—particularly coming from an era when the electric bass was barely accepted. He also stated that one of his main goals was to gather the very best veteran electric bassists to collaborate on a comprehensive method book to rival the Simandl and Bille books, standard methods for learning the upright bass. Later, Stanley reflected on the moment. “It blew my mind to be the honoree at a purely bass event, organized in the spiritual sense that everyone there was a member of this brother-and-sisterhood of bass players. And to get the award from Marcus and Victor was special. I’ve known and respected them all their lives as bassists, but they’d never told me their stories about the impact I had on them. Listening to them and facing the crowd, I have to admit, I started to get a little moisture welling up!”

With the presentation over, the anticipation in the house grew noticeably. Clarke took hold of his upright and was joined by veteran New York classical guitarist Bruce Arnold. The pair played “La Canción de Sofia” [from Stanley Clarke, Al DiMeola, and Jean-Luc Ponty’s Rite of Strings, Capitol, 1995], a gorgeous bowed-melody ballad Clarke wrote for his daughter. But as only a few on hand knew (including Miller, who had seen the solo while opening for the Clarke/Duke Band over the summer), this was merely a polyphonic pad from which Stanley was about to launch his acoustic bass and the audience into deep space. The solo journey began with ear-pleasing blues explorations, and moved to extended variations on 12 bars of a Bach Cello Suite. Next came some crowd-ratcheting Spanish impressionistic improvisations, complete with massive flamenco strums and pats. Clarke reminded one and all that his showmanship and stage presence is as acute as his musical gifts, and now he had everyone in the palms of his huge hands. He proceeded to use those hands to finish with a thunderous upright slapping display that whipped the assembled flock into a frenzy. Afterward, an astonished Victor Wooten allowed, “As amazing as Stanley’s electric playing is, I understand what he’s doing—but what he does on upright is still a mystery to me.” Clarke explained, “I like to push the envelope, especially on the acoustic. I hope I’ve got a few more pushes in me.”

Still with upright in hand, Stanley was joined by Marcus Miller and Miller’s drummer Poogie Bell for the Charlie Parker bebop classic “Confirmation.” The medium tempo lent itself perfectly to Miller’s trademark hard-pluck approach and way-back-in-the-pocket melodic phrasing. Stanley smiled and laid down a walking line with proud-papa confidence. The two then traded inspired solos, with Marcus adding a funky, muted half-time groove behind Stanley, via his blonde ’75 Jazz Bass (his famous ’76 J-Bass has been road-retired). Explained Clarke afterward, “I wanted to show Marcus fans his traditional jazz side, and I’d never gotten to actually play a bebop head with him. He was great.” Added Marcus, “By coincidence, the first time I’d ever heard the tune was at a Stanley concert in the ’70s, when he took a break from his fusion stuff and played it on upright, along with his trumpet player.”

Marcus continued, “To me, there are two kinds of geniuses. The first is the kind that burns brightly, revolutionizes, and then checks out, like Hendrix and Jaco. But the other kind is Stanley. What do you do after you’ve changed the world? How do you continue to challenge yourself and be creative? Well, folks like Stanley and Herbie Hancock have figured that out. They’re still here making amazing music, and no one can touch them on their instruments.”

Finally, the moment was upon us. Clarke switched to his Alembic and Victor Wooten joined the other musicians onstage with his trusty Fodera Yin-Yang bass. Would the three together sound like little more than my-turn jammers at a NAMM show booth, or would they truly take us to school? First, some background, courtesy of Wooten: “When I got to the soundcheck and came onstage to rehearse ‘School Days,’ after hearing Stanley and Marcus run through ‘Confirmation,’ I was so awestruck to be standing next to them that I became musically speechless! Stanley started playing his lead melody in 5ths and Marcus had the bass part covered, and I couldn’t think of something appropriate to add. So we got our levels and I went back to my room, took out my bass, and went to work. I discovered that some of the melodies worked perfectly as harmonics, and I came up with some chordal ideas and just relaxed and let myself get inside the music.”

At about 9:20 pm, “School Days” commenced—and you could quickly see the smiles on the faces of all three, as they realized they were well on their way to “the zone.” Said Stanley of the moment, “I immediately realized it was historical for us and for the audience. Marcus and Victor are so intuitive, and we each found our range. Marcus was slamming down the groove and Victor started playing these harmonics for the chords, and I was like, Man, this is so bad-ass! I was a fan myself, digging it all. When you have that amount of knowledge, respect, and love, it always creates clarity in the music.” Clarke took the first solo; his trademark touch and tone were so familiar that it was difficult not to close your eyes and travel back 30 years, listening to the vinyl version in your bedroom. He built up to his signature sheets-of-sound flourishes before handing it over to Wooten. Victor, who says he wished he had brought his Alembic, began by echoing Stanley’s original finger-pluck solo from the track, and continued in finger mode both in tribute to—and to show fans the influence of—his mentor. By the time he worked his way to some delirious double-thumbing, the state of ecstasy in the room was impenetrable. Miller was up next, the perfect contrast to Clarke and Wooten in tone and phrasing, yet unmistakably a disciple of Stanley the Liberator. Fanned by his peers’ furious chops, Marcus’s thumb was on fire, and his voice on the bass was never clearer.

The best was yet to come, however. In a most magical moment, Wooten played a blinding lick that Miller and Clarke spontaneously answered. The three then began tossing it back and forth, from left to right, with the deftness and surge of the 1992 Olympic Dream Team sharing the ball on a fast break. The crowd had a near conniption, and the building seemed to lift off the ground in a display of communal harmony. Only later was the mystery unraveled: At soundcheck, Miller had asked Wooten if he remembered a fast line that served as a pickup to the song’s B section melody (it’s first heard on the original track at 1:56). Neither of them could quite figure it out, so it was forgotten. But when Victor went back to his hotel room to work on some parts, he learned the actual line, and later he mentioned to Miller that it started on A. For whatever reason, Victor decided to introduce the line at that point in the performance, Marcus and Stanley jumped all over it, and an instant arrangement was born. Explained Clarke, “That was our jazz chops kicking in and reacting, but what amazed me was the audience—they were right there with us every step of the way! I had a flashback to the Return To Forever days, with crowds that really listened and reacted to every note.”

And then, just as smoothly as it started, the concert was over. The cheers from the crowd were punctuated with tears in some eyes, and a sense by all of having experienced a very special one-time performance. Or was it? Fittingly, Clarke later summed up the evening, ending with what is undoubtedly music to the ears of bass players everywhere. “I feel very fortunate to have been given Bass Player’s Lifetime Achievement Award from a jury of my peers. It’s a rare opportunity to look at your life through the eyes of others. Best of all, I can officially state that Marcus, Victor, and I are going to follow through with a tour and hopefully some recording. So stay tuned!”